Door locking and latching mechanism



NOV. 12, 1940. N JACQBI4 2,221,095

DOOR LOCKING AND LATCHING MECHANISM Filed Aug. l5, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet l Nov. 12, 1940. E JACOB. I 2,221,095

DOOR LOCKING ND LATCHING MECHANISMv Filed Aug. 15, 1958 2 sheets-sheet 2 UNITED STATES PATENT voFFicla.

DOOR LOCKING AND LATCHING MECHANISM Edward N. Jacob Briggs & Str Wis.

i, Milwaukee, Wis., assigner to atton Corporation, a. corporation of Delaware Milwaukee,

Application August 15, 1938, Serial No. 224,988

7 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in locks, and refers particularly to door locking and latching mechanisms of the type designed for use on glove compartment doors of automobiles.

One of the objects of this invention is to provide a door latching and locking mechanism of the character described which is so constructed that its manual actuation to release the door for opening imparts a positive opening force to the door to thereby either entirely obviate the need for door opening springs or serve as an aid thereto to insure opening of the door in the event itl should be slightly jammed.

More speciiically, it is an object of this invention to provide a door latching and locking mechanism of the character described wherein the door is held closed by a pivoted latch controlled by a key operable lock cylinder, and in which the latch is provided with a finger to push against the door during its door releasing movement to thereby give the door an opening impetus.

Another object of this inventi on is to provide a lock or latch of the character described which is so designed that the mounting member of the latch mechanism is installed panel from the iront.

on the carrying A further object of this invention is to generally improve the constructionof locks or latches of the character described with smoother operation.

a view toward With the above and other objects in View which will appear as the description proceeds, this invention resides in the novel construction, combination and arrangement of parts substantially as hereinafter described, and

more particularly dened by the appended claims, it being understood that such changes in the precise embodiment of the hereindisclosed invention may be made as come within the scope of the claims.

The accompanying drawings illustrate two complete examples of the physical embodiment of the invention constructed in accordance with the best modes so far devised for the practical application ci the principles thereof, an

Figure l is a latch and lock mechanism cordance with this invention,

din which:

vertical sectional view through a i constructed in acand illustrating its application to a glove compartment of an automobile;

Figure 2 trating the is a view similar to Figure 1, but illusmanner in which the door is positively opened during manual actuation of the mechanism to release the door;

Figure 3 is a top view of the parts broken away and in sectio mechanism, with Il;

Figure 4 is a rear view thereof, also broken away and in section; and

Figure 5is a top view similar to Figure 3, but illustrating a slightly modied embodiment of the invention.

Referring now particularly to the accompanying drawings in whichY like numerals indicate like parts, the numeral 5 designates a stationary panel, which may be part of the instrument board of an automobile. The panel 5 has a door openl0 ing, indicated generallyn by the numeral 6, which provides access to a compartment (not shown) whenvits doorv'l is open. The door 'l is hingedly mounted at its bottom and swings to and from its closed position, shown in Figure 1, where it is l5 held by a latch 8 engaging a keeper 9.

The latch 8 is pivotally carried by a mounting member l0 xed to the panel 5 in a manner to be hereinafter described. Ahorizontal pivot pin Il passing through the medial portion of the A2O latch, and two downwardly extending ears I2 on the mounting member, provide the direct support for the latch; and a tension spring I3, having one end attached to a hook `lli Yon the latch and its other end engaged over a rearward extension I5 25 on the mounting member, yieldingly urges the latch to its keeper engaging position, illustrated in Figure 1.

When the latch is disengaged from the keeper andno other means restrains its spring actuated 30 motion, such motion is limited by the engagement of two small stops I6 formed on opposite sides of the latch with the rear downwardly inclined edges of the ears I2. Ordinarily, however, the spring propelled motion of the latch is limited '35 either by the engagement of the latch with its keeper 5 (when the door is closed), or by engagement of a lug il on the latch with the rear or inner end of a lock cylinder i8. y

The lock cylinder I8 is of conventional construc- 40 tion and is mounted in a bore i9 in the mounting member Where it is removably held by means of a lug 20 on the mounting member engaging in a bayonet slot 2| in the inner end of the cylinder. 'I'his bayonet slot connection allows rotation of 4.5 the cylinder between locked and unlocked positions, and also endwise movement when in its unlocked position.

The customary key controlled tumblers 22 are carried by the cylinder to engage in tumbler '50 grooves 23 and Vv2t in the mounting member. When the tumblers project into the groove 23, they secure the cylinder against rotation in its locked position of rotation, and when they project into the groove 23', the cylinder is held in 55 with parts its unlocked position of rotation. To accommodate the endwise motion of the cylinder when in its unlocked position of rotation, the groove 23 is longer than the groove 23. The tumblers are rectractible to free the cylinder for rotation by a proper key 24, which is removable in both positions of the cylinder.

One limit of rotation of the cylinder is defined by the engagement of an eccentrically located lug 25 on its inner end with a boss 26 formed on the mounting member and projecting into its bore I9. At its other limit, rotation of the cylinder is arrested by the engagement of the lug 25 with the lug I1 on the latch'.

In its' locked position of rotation, the cylinder blocks movement of the latch out of its keeper engaging position by reason of the fact that the latch has a tongue 21 projecting through a slot 28 in the side of the mounting member to lie directly adjacent to the cylindrical surface of the cylinder. The Slot 28 is a continuation of the space between the ears I2.

When the cylinder is turned to its unlocked position of rotation, shown in Figure 2, a recess 29 in the side of the cylinder aligns with the slot 28 and thus removes obstruction to inward movement of the tongue 21. Hence, upon inward endwise motion of the cylinder from its position shown in Figure l, its inner end, by contacting the lug I1 of the latch, swings the latch about its pivot to disengage the same from its keeper 9 and release the door for opening.

During this door releasing movement of the latch, an arm 3U, preferably forming part of the latch and extending downwardly therefrom, swings into engagement with the rear wall 3l of the door directly after the latch is disengaged from the keeper so that the final inward motion of the cylinder applies an outward opening force on the door to give it a positive opening impetus. In this manner, door opening springs may be dispensed with, and where they are used, they need not be excessively strong, for in the event the door has a tendency to stick in its closed position, the manual actuation of the latch 'mechanism positively initiates its opening.

The mounting member I0 is assembled from in front of the panel 5 by being inserted through a hole 32 in the panel. This hole 32, as best shown in Figure 4, is of a shape to permit the passage of the spring support I5 and the ears I2 therethrough, provision for these parts of the mounting member being in the form of notches or recesses 33 and 34 in opposite sides of the periphery of the hole 32, and on a horizontal plane so that the mounting member is inserted sidewise and then turned to its upright position of use.

These recesses or notches are covered by an oval-shaped bezel 35 secured to the outer anged end of the mounting member. The flange of the mounting member bears against the front of the panel to positively limit inward movement of the mounting member.

It is, of course, to be understood that during application of the mounting member to the panel, the latch and spring are not attached to the mounting member, these parts being assembled with the mounting member after it is in position.

The mounting member having been inserted through the hole 32 and turned to its proper upright position, it is there secured by means of a cap 36 which fits over the rear of the mounting member and bears against the rear face of the panel 5. This cap, to accommodate the ears I2,

is substantially of horseshoe shape in cross section, as shown in Figure 4, and has an opening 31 in its top to allow the spring support I5 to project therethrough. It is secured in position by two clamping screws 38 which pass through holes in the rear Wall 39 of the cap and thread into two spaced extensions 40 projecting rearwardly from the mounting member. Drawing the cap down by means of the screws 38 thus clamps the panel between the flanged front end of the mounting member and the adjacent end of the cap.

As stated, the bezel 35 is secured to the flanged front end of the mounting member and is of a size to completely cover the hole 32 cesses or notches in its opposite sides. For the sake of appearance, the bezel is preferably made of a suitable plastic material, such as "Tenite, which, being nonmetallic introduces a problem as to its attachment. An exceptionally expeditious manner of securing the bezel to the mounting member consists of an eyelet 4I inserted through the bore of the bezel and into the counterbore at the mouth of the bore I9 in the mounting member.

The outer end of the eyelet is spun over the edge of the bore in the eyelet, as at 42, and to secure the eyelet to the mounting member, its inner portion is either staked into suitable depressions formed in the wall, or an annular bead 43 is rolled into the eyelet to project into an annular groove in the wall of the counterbore.

As shown, the bezel and also the wall of the counterbore in the mounting member are recessed to receive the metal thickness of the eyelet so that the assembled structure provides a neat ornamental appearance with the inner wall of the eyelet forming the actual side wall of the counterbore and receiving the head 44 of the cylinder.

Another manner of securing the mounting member in place is illustrated in Figure 5. As here shown, the mounting member may be equipped with two lugs 46 projecting from opposite sides thereof and bored to receive studs 41 fixed to the back of the panel 5. The studs may be secured in place by being threaded into nut members 48 welded to the back of the panel. Nuts 48 threaded on the rear ends of these studs serve to hold the mounting member to the back of the panel, as clearly shown in Figure 5. With this construction, the headed end 49 of the cylinder may project directly through a hole 50 in the panel.

From. the foregoing description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, it will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art that this invention materially improves the locking type latches for compartment doors of automobiles, particularly by Virtue of its provision of means for positively opening the door during release of the latch, and also because of the improved manner of mounting the mechanism in place and of securing the ornamental bezel on the end of the mounting member.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. Locking mechanism for a door movable to and from a closed position comprising: a pivoted latch operable to secure the door closed; a key controlled lock cylinder; means mounting the lock cylinder adjacent to the pivoted latch for rotation and endwise movement: a connection between the lock cylinder and the pivoted latch whereby endwise movement of the lock cyland the re- 1 inder when in its unlocked position of rotation moves the pivoted latch to release the door for opening; means on the lock cylinder for blocking pivotal releasing motion of the latch when the cylinder is in its locked position of rotation; and means operable concomitantly with door releasing motion of the pivoted latch for imparting an opening impetus to the door.

2. A door latching mechanism of the character described comprising: a pivoted latch engageable With a keeper part on the door for securing the door closed; a stationary mounting member pivotally mounting the latch adjacent to the door, said stationary mounting member having a bore; a lock cylinder rotatable and endwise movable in said bore; key controlled tumblers for securing the lock cylinder in a locked position of rotation at which endwise movement thereof is restrained, said tumblers being key operable toV 20 release the cylinder for rotation to an unlocked position of rotation at which endwise movement of the cylinder is permitted; a connection between the pivoted latch and the cylinder through which door releasing movement of the latch is restrained when the cylinder is in its locked position of rotation; and means on the latch lying in the path of the lock cylinder so as to be engaged thereby during endwise movement of the lock cylinder for actuating the latch to disengage the same from the keeper part and release the door for opening.

3. In a latch for a door movable to and from a closed position in which one side of the door is inaccessible: a movable latch; a stationary part adjacent to one edge of the door mounting the latch for engagement With a part on the inaccessible side of the door to secure the same closed; key controlled means for imparting disengaging motion to the latch upon key actuation 40 to an unlocked position, and for securing the latch against motion Whenrin locked position; and means adjacent to the inaccessible side of the door operable upon such disengagement of the latch for applying an opening force to the 45 door.

4. A door latching mechanism of the character described comprising: a pivoted latch engageable with a keeper on one side of the door; stationary mounting means -for the latch; a key 50 controlled lock cylinder rotatably and endwise movably mounted adjacent to said latch and accessible from the other side of the door for manual endwise movement when in an unlocked position of rotation, said lock cylinder blocking 55 pivotal releasing motion of the latch When in its locked position of rotation; means for translating endwise motion of the lock cylinder into door releasing pivotal motion of the latch; and means at said first named side of the door op- 60 erable concomitantly with such door releasing pivotal motion of the latch for imparting an opening impetus to the door.

5. Locking means for compartment doors o1' automobiles and the like comprising: a latch movable to and from a position securing the door closed; key controlled means for blocking movement of the latch to a position releasing the door for opening, said key controlled means being operable when in an unlocked position to move the latch to a door releasing position; and means actuated as a consequence to such latch moving operation of the key controlled means for applying an opening force on the door.

6. A door latching mechanism of the character described comprising: a pivoted latch engageable with a keeper part on the door for securing the door closed; a stationary mounting member pivotally mounting the latch adjacent to the door, said stationary mounting member having a bore'; a lock cylinder rotatable and endwise movable in said bore; key controlled tumblers for securing the lock cylinder in a locked position of rotation at which endwise movement thereof is restrained, said tumblers being key operable to release the cylinder for rotation to an unlocked position of rotation at which endwise movement of the cylinder is permitted; a connection between the pivoted latch and the cylinder through which door releasing movement of the latch is restrained when the cylinder is in its locked position of rotation; another connection between thev pivoted latch and the cylinder through which endwise movement of the lock cylinder actuates the latch to disengage the same from the keeper part and release the doorv for opening; and means movable with the latch and engageable with the door to apply an opening force thereto directly subsequent to disengagement of the latch from the keeper part.

7. A door latching mechanism of the character described comprising: a pivoted latch adjacent to the door and engageable with a keeper part thereon for securing the door closed; a stationary mounting member pivotally mounting the latch; spring means acting on the latch and tending at all times to yieldingly maintain the same in its keeper engaging position; a key controlled lock cylinder rotatable and endwise movable in said mounting member and operable when in a locked position of rotation 'to block releasing movement of the latch, and operable upon endwise movement thereof when in an unlocked position of rotation to move the latch against said spring means out of engagement with the keeper part; and means movable with the latch and engageable with the door directly after disengagement of the latch from the keeper part for translating manually produced end-r wise movement of the cylinder into an opening force on the door.

EDWARD N. JACOBI. 

